Kelly Minkin Denied, Brian Altman Wins WPT Lucky Hearts

When the final six players sat down at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open, there was a good chance history might be made. Kelly Minkin came into the final table third in chips, looking to become the first female to win an open WPT title.

Joining Minkin at the final table were Brian Altman, Mark Dube, Sanjay Gehi, Greg Rosen, and Jon Graham. Altman and Dube had the massive lead, with nearly 22 million in chips between them. Minkin’s 47 big blinds were a distant third place, but well ahead of Gehi in fourth. Rosen and Graham came in with less than 20 big blinds each.

Minkin drew first blood, calling a shove by Graham with . The queens held against Graham’s , giving Minkin over 5 million chips, sending Graham to the rail in sixth place for $146,245. Gehi busted next, losing a race with Dube when his couldn’t hold up against the of Dube.

Play continued four-handed for a couple hours with Minkin and Rosen exchanging third and fourth position. Rosen finished fourth in a hand that saw all four players go to a flop of . Rosen moved all in when action checked to him and was called by Altman. Altman’s was ahead of Rosen’s and Rosen was unable to improve, collecting $220,189.

History was not to be at the Lucky Hearts, however, as Minkin exited shortly after Rosen in third place. She shoved with the best of it, getting her small stack in with against Altman’s . Minkin turned a set, but the river gave Altman a straight. Minkin collected $262,912, the largest cash of her career.

Altman and Dube started heads-up play with Dube in the lead with 147 big blinds to Altman’s 108. Dube held on to the lead for the first hour of play, until Altman doubled when he turned a straight against Dube’s flopped set.

Altman never gave up the lead again, and took the tournament down on a hand where he cracked Dube’s with a flopped the nut flush. Dube collected $434,462 for second place, while Altman won $723,008 for first.

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